The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may or may not constitute prior art.
Many modern automatic motor vehicle transmissions utilize controlled hydraulic fluid (transmission oil) to actuate clutches and brakes to achieve desired combinations of engagements and provide a useful sequence of gear ratios. The control of such hydraulic fluid is achieved by a valve body which comprises a plurality of spool valves which direct hydraulic fluid flow through a complex of passageways to clutch and brake actuators. The valve body is supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid from, typically, a gear, vane or gerotor pump which is driven by the engine output shaft or the transmission input shaft.
Because this is such a common transmission configuration and because of the manufacturing volume of such automatic transmissions, extensive research and development has been undertaken to reduce the cost and optimize the performance of such pumps. For example, simplifying such pumps to reduce their weight and cost, reducing their size to improve packaging, improving low speed performance, improving low temperature performance and reducing high speed energy losses have all been areas of development and improvement.
The present invention is directed to improvements which facilitate the rapid and proper assembly of such pumps as well as provide additional realized benefits to the torque converter housing (TCH) manufacturability and management of the transmission operating fluid.